Natural resources, such as oil and gas, are used as fuel to power vehicles, heat homes, and generate electricity, in addition to a myriad of other uses. Once a desired resource is discovered below the surface of the earth, drilling and production systems are often employed to access and extract the resource. These systems may be located offshore depending on the location of a desired resource. These systems enable drilling and/or extraction operations.
As such, offshore oil and gas operations often utilize a wellhead housing supported on the ocean floor and a blowout preventer stack secured to the wellhead housing's upper end. A blowout preventer stack is an assemblage of blowout preventers and valves used to control well bore pressure. The upper end of the blowout preventer stack has an end connection or riser adapter (often referred to as a lower marine riser package or LMRP) that allows the blowout preventer stack to be connected to a series of pipes, known as riser, riser string, or riser pipe. Each segment of the riser string is connected in end-to-end relationship, allowing the riser string to extend upwardly to the drilling rig or drilling platform positioned over the wellhead housing.
The riser string is supported at the ocean surface by the drilling rig and extends to the subsea equipment through a moon pool in the drilling rig. A rotary table and associated equipment typically support the riser string during installation. Below the rotary table may also be a diverter, a riser gimbal, and other sensitive equipment. Accordingly, it remains a priority to reduce the complexity of equipment within drilling environments without sacrificing the benefits offered by this equipment, as there are restrictions for the size and weight of equipment that is used within a drilling rig, such as particularly within the moon pool area.